What Do You Think Is Cozy?

20 people tell us what they think is cozy.

Fluffy bedding? A snuggly robe and a crackling fire? A glass of red wine and American Idol? We say they're all what's cozy now.

1 of 20

Miguel Flores-Vianna

Cozy Is... Small Houses

"Small houses, because people have to make each room serve more than one function. A dining room that's also used for homework and bill paying feels alive and cozy, because there's more activity taking place in it. The coziest house I've ever been in is tiny — a 900-square-foot Arts & Crafts jewel. The light pouring in, the natural wood, the wide windowsills...it was magical." -Sarah Susanka, architect and author of The Not So Big House and Not So Big Remodeling

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2 of 20

Michal Koziarski

Cozy Is... Books

"I don't know anything that could replace books. I'm with them all day at work, and when I go home, I'm surrounded by them there. I have a library, bookcases in every room, stacks next to the bed, stacks on the dining room table. Surrounded by all the possibilities within each book — a journey taken, a world discovered, emotions felt — well, I just don't see how I could do without them. It would be awful and very, very cold." -Toby Cox, owner of the Three Lives & Company Bookstore

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3 of 20

Aim&eacute;e Herring

Cozy Is... A Close-Knit Dinner Party

"A dinner party where you're all tucked in as tight as possible at the dining table. Come to think of it, everything that feels good is done as close as possible — picnics, dancing, riding in sports cars. I'll get in trouble if I keep going, right?" -Mimi McMakin, interior designer

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4 of 20

Cozy Is... Lots of Cushions

"The right lighting. No spotlights, no chandeliers, and no ceiling lighting, which is so cold. I like reading with kraft-paper shades that look like parchment. They have a nice candlelight glow. I also like upholstered walls and lots of cushions everywhere — but not overly stuffed ones. And don't make them look like an army formation!" -Carolina Irving, fabric designer

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5 of 20

Simon Upton

Cozy Is... Furniture That's Upholstered

"Coziness is about comfortable seating. If there's nothing fully upholstered to sit on in a room, I don't want to be there. I'm not looking to be suffocated by goose down — I just want to be able to curl up and talk." -Betsy Burnham, interior designer

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6 of 20

Benjamin Brandt/istock

Cozy Is... A Big Breakfast

"It's wearing my favorite old blue-and-green Fair Isle V-neck sweater and making a ridiculously big breakfast on a Sunday morning — coffee, eggs, bacon, and lots of corn tortillas or cornbread in a black iron skillet. I love the smell of corn in any form. So comforting. I'd sit with my husband on the sofa and eat it slowly, surrounded by a month's worth of books and magazines." -Susan Spicer, chef and owner of Bayona Restaurant

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7 of 20

Ngoc Minh Ngo

Cozy Is... A Fluffy Bedroom

"Being in bed, surrounded by 360 degrees of fluff! Bedroom colors should be soft — pinks, ivories, creams, melons, icy blues. Lighting should be gentle. The bed should be deliciously enveloping. It can be a 'featherbed' made out of a really great poly fiberfill so there are no quills poking you, a wonderful sheepskin, or a really good wool pad two inches thick. However you create it, the bed should make you feel like a baby getting wrapped up in your woobie." -Ann Gish, designer of luxury linens and bedding

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8 of 20

DNY59/istock

Cozy Is... Candlelight

"I just babysat my two grandchildren, and we sat at the table eating noodle soup we'd made ourselves. I lit candles and I said, doesn't this feel really cozy? And they said, it does! Candles make everything cozy. They cast a light of intimacy, which is what coziness is about." -Jesse Ziff Cool, restaurateur and cookbook author

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9 of 20

Sjoerd van der Wal/istock

Cozy Is... Listening to the Classics

"Sinatra's wonderfully cozy, and so is Ella Fitzgerald. But there's something about listening to Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 that makes me go limp. It's like sinking into a hot bath surrounded by candles." -Judith Owen, singer and songwriter

"I like mounds of white bedding. It's sensual but reminds me of innocence. Life begins and ends in white sheets — they tap into something essential rather than just being chic for the sake of chic." -Sean Cummings, owner of International House Hotel

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12 of 20

Oliver Malms/istock

Cozy Is... Curling Up by a Fire

"Here's my recipe: Curl up with a great book on a comfy sofa — down cushions a must! — in front of a crackling fire. Add one to three snoozing dogs, exhausted from a long walk. You might have to put on a fleece robe or a pair of bamboo lounging pajamas. Have you never worn bamboo? Oh my. It moves with you like a second skin — and it's soft as buttah." -Annie Selke, designer and founder of Pine Cone Hill

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13 of 20

Eric Piasecki

Cozy Is... Warm Surroundings

"Coziness is being in a claret red room, or under a floral arbor; or on a train shooting through the countryside. It's feeling enveloped, as if someone's arms are wrapped around you." -Gary McBournie, interior designer

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14 of 20

Dawn Jagroop/istock

Cozy Is... Textiles

"Having textiles in every room to soften all the edges. I just turned my dining room tables into library tables, and I have beautiful saris from a trip to India thrown over them." -Susan Hull Walker, weaver and textile artist

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15 of 20

Clarke Scheckel/istock

Cozy Is... Giving Up on a Diet

"Cozy for me is giving up on any diet and having a nice spaghetti Bolognese with a glass of red wine, wrapped up in my favorite chair, watching — I have to admit it — American Idol." -Milly de Cabrol, interior designer

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16 of 20

"Coziness means a nap, and a nap means a lamb's wool or cashmere throw in red or chocolate brown. If I'm being good and not eating chocolate, at least I can wrap myself up in it." -Sue Fisher King, owner of the store Sue Fisher King

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17 of 20

Cozy Is... My TV Room

"My TV room. It has a comfy Ralph Lauren sofa covered in Scalamandré outdoor fabric so that if anything spills on it, I'm not worried. I can kick my shoes off and put my feet up on my orange linen ottoman. Orange is making me feel so good these days! To me, coziness means like what you're looking at." -Kari Cusack, interior designer

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18 of 20

Cozy Is... Properly Placed Furniture

"Properly placed furniture — close together rather than far apart, with lots of little tables so people can reach comfortably for drinks. If you have a big room, split it in half. Make two seating areas and put a big ottoman in the middle so people can sit on it and talk both ways." -Eldon Wong, interior designer

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19 of 20

Angelo Gilardelli/istock

Cozy Is... Something Handmade

"Something sensual and handmade. I'm thinking of a fine wool shawl, embellished and embroidered, in some dynamic color combination — maybe grape against celadon. And extra long, so you can really wrap it around you." -Judy Ross, textile designer

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20 of 20

Sandy Jones/istock

Cozy Is... Curling Up with a Quilt

"Cuddling up with a patchwork quilt on a dreary evening. There might be a fabric in it that reminds you of pajamas from childhood, or a dress your grandmother wore, and she was the one who always comforted you when you were sick. It's like having all the pieces of your life around you, sewn into a whole: an emotional blanket." -Denyse Schmidt, quilt designer

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